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Modifications to an EFE trailer


jonhall

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Yesterday at a swapmeet I acquired a random lorry box body trailer that I felt had potential to be useful as a yard store in an industrial location, the model in question can be seen in this ebay auction.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EFE-22102-AEC-ERGO-ARTIC-BOX-VAN-McKINNON-/400539291451

 

obviously is a ne to clean for my application, so I've set about weathering it (unfortunately I didn't take any step by steps).

 

First I attacked the body with a 'garyflex' abrasive block, which is a bit like a track rubber, to wear through and fade some of the lettering.

 

Then I painted the stand legs black (from white) and whist cleaning the brush out I used the dirty black thinners to pick out the door lines and panel joins.

 

Then I painted a rectangle on the roof to represent a translucent fibreglass roof, and attempted to follow the technique that Neil described here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7606&start=50 I used something like 'deck teak' as the base colour.

 

Then when is was just about dry (not known for my patience) I used the same garyflex block to abrade back the paint so that a blue frame appears to be under the fibreglass. then I've tried to add darker shades in grey, brown and olive green to represent the years of accumulated muck, followed by a very dilute olive green wash to the eves of the roof and the sides to give a moss effect.

 

I'm not sure I've hit quite the same standard as Neil, but its certainly close to what I'd intended.

 

post-336-0-41781900-1384689354.jpg

 

post-336-0-13645300-1384689355.jpg

 

But whilst I was doing all this I've been thinking about road trailers (which I don't know all that much about, so I have a few questions

 

This trailer is about 26' long, and I know that just after the introduction of Freightliners (1964? ) the rules changed so that a trailer could go from 27' to 30' long. This suggests that 'my' trailer is a pre-1964 example, but would hauliers have swapped to 30'ers straight away, or would they have waited until the equipment was life expired? and what was the lifespan of a dry box trailer in the 60's and 70's? Presumably this was pre-under-run bars, so I don't need to add those to this model? What would the door locking have looked like on a trailer of this era?

 

Jon

 

 

 

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Superb job of that roof Jon.  I too followed Neil's method but without results as good as you achieved. In fairness to shortliner above, not a good idea to model other models. We all know that a photo of the real thing is the only way to go, but who took photos of the rear of vehicles.

I will see what I have in the collection.

Merf.

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Superb job of that roof Jon.  I too followed Neil's method but without results as good as you achieved. In fairness to shortliner above, not a good idea to model other models. We all know that a photo of the real thing is the only way to go, but who took photos of the rear of vehicles.

I will see what I have in the collection.

Merf.

 

Will try and send what I found as a PM , not my copyright.

Merf.

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Very nice job on that roof, Jon.

 

Trailers would have, largely, remained in service for many years and, though they would have been phased out more rapidly following the change in legislation, there was certainly no mass switch to longer lengths unless the traffic demanded it. Trailers soon went to. 40', which was the standard for many years (it's currently 45' I believe?). For many operations extra length was of lesser benefit. In the 1970's the BSC was buying trailers of 30', 33' and 36' lengths, it suited the lengths of steel section being transported, conversely, If you're shipping ping pong balls, you want the biggest volume trailer you can get,

 

Trailers can have very long lives, they are simple and robust and with a bit of TLC, and the occasional repaint, 15 to 20 years is possible. Like the tractor units, they get cascaded down from bigger operators, to smaller hauliers and owner drivers.

 

I'm not sure of the date of introduction of under run bars, those at the rear became mandatory well before those at the side.

 

Trailer door mechanisms were not dissimilar to those on the left hand trailer in Jack's photo, but with a second vertical locking bar on the left door.

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There are still some shortish van trailers about, used for deliveries to urban supermarkets and department stores. I've certainly seen ones branded 'Tesco' in recent weeks; I think they only had a single rear axle, and were fitted with tail-lifts.

 

My specialist subject. :-D

 

Current max length of a trailer in the UK is 13.6m/45ft. However trials are currently under way with 14.5 and 15.75m trailers.

 

Tesco (and Stobart doing Tesco store deliveries) run 13, 12, 10 and 8 metre trailers. What you're describing is a Tesco 8m trailer. Generally for the Express stores where space whilst tipping and manouvering space is at a premium. Not van trailers though, just Fridges and curtainsiders.

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  • 2 months later...

Jonhall- With regards to whether hauliers would replace short trailers right away, In fact before the C&U regs were changed in 1964 (Nothing to do with Freightliner BTW)  artics weren't all that common. the eight wheeler being the 'workhorse' for general haulage. An eight wheeler could be 28tons GVW as could an artic. but you required an additional licence to drive an artic.  Consequently, only those who had an operational requirement for artics used them.

In 1964 the maximum practical GVW for an eight legger was raised to 30 tons that for an artic was raised to 32 (Dubbed by the press 'Juggernaughts') thereby giving artics a 2ton advantage. After this many hauliers went to Artics.

Remember, longer trailers needed more powerful units. Apparently no UK manufacturers were ready with a 32 ton tractive unit. This led to the influx of continental units. in the late sixties.

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As an amateur I hope that these two pictures taken outside Tesco at Redfield, Bristol are what "Lankyphil" describes above. Certainly space at that store is at a premium. Apologies for the quality of Photo 1.

They are branded as "Ferry Trailers", you can just about make out the little yellow anchors on the bottom of the sides. Is this standard on all Tesco trailers, I haven't noticed it before.

 

post-9115-0-45678000-1393360305_thumb.jpgpost-9115-0-61145800-1393360256_thumb.jpg

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Jonhall- With regards to whether hauliers would replace short trailers right away, In fact before the C&U regs were changed in 1964 (Nothing to do with Freightliner BTW)  artics weren't all that common. the eight wheeler being the 'workhorse' for general haulage. An eight wheeler could be 28tons GVW as could an artic. but you required an additional licence to drive an artic.  Consequently, only those who had an operational requirement for artics used them.

In 1964 the maximum practical GVW for an eight legger was raised to 30 tons that for an artic was raised to 32 (Dubbed by the press 'Juggernaughts') thereby giving artics a 2ton advantage. After this many hauliers went to Artics.

Remember, longer trailers needed more powerful units. Apparently no UK manufacturers were ready with a 32 ton tractive unit. This led to the influx of continental units. in the late sixties.

Most of the UK manufacturers - AEC, Leyland, Scammell, ERF et al - had been able to offer 32t+ GVW tractors well before they were legal in the UK. The influx of foreign built lorries was largely led by Volvo and Scania who were introduced by UK importers who saw a demand for tractor units and multi axle tippers which the home manufacturers didn't seem able to satisfy. Add to the mix more advanced specifications such as better cabs, lifting axles, turbocharging and integral power steering, all at a competitive price and within 40 years home built heavy trucks were no more.

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As an amateur I hope that these two pictures taken outside Tesco at Redfield, Bristol are what "Lankyphil" describes above. Certainly space at that store is at a premium. Apologies for the quality of Photo 1.

They are branded as "Ferry Trailers", you can just about make out the little yellow anchors on the bottom of the sides. Is this standard on all Tesco trailers, I haven't noticed it before.

 

Yep. They're Tesco 10 metre trailers. The white one is a fridge and the blue one just a normal curtainsider.

 

In terms of the store, not too bad an access to be honest. There are lot that are an awful lot smaller and more awkward to get into.

 

All Tesco trailers are "Ferry Trailers". Quite why I don't know. We (Widnes Depot) serve the store at Douglas (I.of M.) so we do actually put trailers onto the Heysham ferry, but they're the full length versions or some specialised double deckers. I think that the Livingston Depot serves stores on the Shetlands so I imagine they do the same.  To actually make them into a ferry trailer, there's a area marked on the frame in front of the landing gear where a trestle can be put and 6 or 8 lashing eyes around the frame for securing it to the deck.

 

A Tesco 8 metre trailer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidsnwtransport/8597361011/

 

A Tesco 10 metre Fridge Trailer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrytaxi/7843567918/in/photostream/

 

A Stobart 10 metre Fridge (Stobart version of the one above) - http://www.carnewhitney.com/epdf/stobart/files/assets/seo/page21_images/0002.jpg

 

Thread Hijack over ;)

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